Microsoft AI executive Mustafa Suleyman recently made a startling prediction about artificial intelligence’s impact on professional work, stating that most white-collar tasks will be fully automated within 12 to 18 months.
According to sources, Suleyman stated: “I think that we’re going to have a human-level performance on most, if not all, professional tasks.”
He explained that this applies to computer-based roles across industries “So white-collar work where you’re sitting down at a computer, either being a lawyer or an accountant or a project manager or a marketing person. Most of those tasks will be fully automated by an AI within the next 12 to 18 months,” he said.
The transformation is already underway in software development. Many engineers report using AI assistance for the vast majority of their code production, fundamentally changing their role.
“Their role has shifted now to this meta-function of debugging, scrutinizing, of doing the strategic stuff like architecting,” the executive explained, noting this change has occurred in just six months.
This rapid evolution extends beyond coding. Legal professionals are encountering clients who arrive armed with AI-generated advice, creating what one attorney termed “the WebMD effect on st**oids.”
Dave Jochnowitz, a partner at Outten & Golden, described clients being told by chatbots, “You got a kil ler case,” only to receive more measured assessments from human lawyers who understand jurisdictional nuances and case precedents.
If AI allows a lawyer to compress five hours of work into thirty minutes, the billable hour structure collapses. Recent guidance from the American Bar Association clarifies that attorneys cannot bill for time they didn’t actually spend, regardless of output quality.
Yet some industry observers suggest the technology reshapes rather than eliminates work. “Staying up all night and copying provisions into a master Excel doesn’t need to happen anymore,” said Aubrey Bishai, chief innovation officer at Vinson & Elkins.
Financial markets are beginning to register the implications. A recent $400 billion selloff in software stocks followed new AI product announcements, signaling that investors now view artificial intelligence as a replacement for entire industries rather than merely a productivity enhancement. This represents what analysts describe as the first concrete market judgment on AI’s capacity to displace established business models.
Skepticism remains about implementation timelines and capabilities. J.H. “Rip” Verkerke, a law professor at the University of Virginia, cautioned that many promised features remain unproven. “There are going to be some big claims about what can be done. A lot of them will turn out to be vaporware. That’s what a lot of firms have discovered.”
The technology’s limitations become apparent in high-stakes environments. While AI excels at document analysis, it lacks the comprehensive, verified databases that legal professionals rely on. Adoption is expected to proceed cautiously rather than as an overnight revolution.
The economic ramifications extend beyond individual job categories. Some observers predict a bifurcation in markets, similar to organic versus conventional goods, where “human-made” becomes a distinct category commanding different value than “AI-made” products and services.
